African scholars call on China to participate in security

African scholars on Thursday called on China to participate in the continent's security which has is key to economic development.

The scholars meeting in Nairobi on Sino-Africa forum said the best entry point for China will be impacting indigenous methods of conflict resolution among Africans that have been used by China before.

"China should use the security architecture that already exists in Africa, through the regional blocs and also the African Union. But its participation should include citizen participation or awareness so that it is not seen as supporting illegitimate and unpopular regimes," said Simiyu Werunga, retired colonel in the Kenya Defense Forces and the director of Africa Center for Security and Strategic Studies.

With China's soft power diplomacy exhibited in Africa and its policy of noninterference, one of the least engagements the country would want to have is get involved in Africa's often complex security situation.

But a group of scholars drawn from across Africa want China to do just that; get more involved in Africa's security issues.

According to the scholars, the reasons are many and stretch from contributing positively to Africa peace and security situation and also enabling China increase her influence in the continent.

The value and spread of China's investments in the continent are fast expanding and when countries get insecure, these investments come under threat.

Scholars said Africa has suffered a great deal because of the myriad of conflicts that affect numerous countries.

In a country like Somali that has not been a central administration for more than 20 years now with consequences of human underdevelopment that has affected an entire generation.

It is estimated that conflicts cost Africa 300 billion U.S. dollars between 1990 and 2005 -- an amount equivalent to all the international aid received by sub-Saharan Africa in the same period, according to a report by aid groups Oxfam International, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and Saferworld.

The report noted that an average war, civil war, or insurgency shrinks an African economy by 15 percent.

Scholars suggested that China should impact the knowledge of Maoism and Confucius on conflict resolution to Africa's Panel of the Wise, a committee of elderly leaders and scholars authorized by the African Union to mediate peace in Africa.

They said Beijing should participate on security issues that affect people more directly because if conflicts are avoided or minimized, the common citizen benefits directly and this will help Africa's economic growth not to get disrupted.

The scholars were speaking in Nairobi during a one day seminar organized by the Chinese Embassy in Kenya and the Inter Region Economic Network (IREN) on the theme of; The Path to the Sustainable Development of China-Africa Relations.

They said China should seek to understand the genesis of conflicts in Africa should that it can be able to participate more effectively in conflict resolution.

"One of the most important are of participation for China is to help Africa continue its security sector reforms because it has succeeded in maintaining the pace of its sector reforms," said Paul Odhiambo of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).

Engagement with nongovernmental organizations and think tanks that focus on security issues was identified as one of the opportunities where China can engage Africa on security issues.

Another opportunity is to have a deeper engagement with the security structures put that exist under the African Union.

"So far, China has been seen as being unable to help in countries where it has conflicting interest like Sudan. But this needs to change, more participation of China in peace and security issues will enable it secure even stronger influence in the continent," said Professor Macharia Munene who teaches international relations at the United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya.

Scholars said Beijing should replicate the positive relations it has had with Africa especially on infrastructure development to the security sector as Africans are equally concerned about the security situation in their respective countries as they are about infrastructure.

A report by Safeworld "China's growing role in African peace and security" noted that China's interests in Africa have increasingly come under threat, placing its energy security, economic investments and the lives of its citizens at risk.

"More broadly, China has an interest in acting -- and being seen to act -- as a responsible global power, and therefore one that assists Africa in addressing its interrelated peace and development challenges," the report compiled in 2011 notes.

China's possible bigger role in Africa security is further enhanced by the fact that the country already has an impact on the internal affairs of many African countries by closely associated with ruling elites in countries with which it has relations.